Publication date:
August 31, 2021
NetGalley
St. Martin's Press. 336 pages 3.5/5 rounded up due to the research involved
The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women
Nonfiction, history, Europe, feminism, archeology, digital, audio
3/20/24-3/28/24
Admittedly, I was not as engrossed or fascinated with this book as many other readers. I am sure it is due to my expectations of the book. I think this book is best suited for people who already have solid historical knowledge of the Viking warrior era. I realized that I was in over my head so to speak but I did push through using other simplified sources to augment my comprehension. I listened to the audio book while I read the digital book to assist my understanding. I found it overwhelming as there was a lot of research and archeological findings discussed which seemed to cast doubt on some of the written historical literature. My knowledge is merely superficial making this a difficult read for me which has no reflection on the author. What was also challenging was that some of the book was speculative and provided the author's interpretation or opinions on areas not clearly explained by historical facts.
Of particular interest is the DNA findings by archeologists that a Viking warrior in an upper-status grave in Birka, Sweden is a woman and not a man as previously thought. The author uses science and history to link this Birka warrior to Viking trading towns. She names the warrior Hervor and explains the history which most likely led to the misconception of the gender of the warrior. It was assumed that those fallen warriors were men as no distinction was made to acknowledge that women would often dress similar to men in battle making is less likely to distinguish their gender.
My interest led me to an article on history.com by Sarah Pruitt written November 18, 2016 and updated August 4, 2023 entitled What Was Life Like for Women in the Viking Age? This helped simplify some of the history and my understanding of the research presented in the book. From my understanding, archeological findings are examined and interrupted with the historical data known at that time. Like most cultures of this time period, men and women typically held "traditional" roles and were identified by items that were found buried with their remains. Men were usually found with weapons or tolls whereas women could be found with household items, jewelry and needlework. The Scandinavian women at this time did experience an unusual amount of freedom allowing them a voice regarding arranged marriages and divorces. This is contrary to the idea of men being the "ruler" in the home but women often take over if her husband was away or died which explained why these bodies were found with keys or other symbols indicating their leadership of the home.
I will not attempt to comment further on the women mentioned as some were historical and others were mythical as they seemed to overlap in the oral histories at that time.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing me access to this digital review copy of this book. All opinions and comments in my review are expressly my own honest and unbiased view.
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